The new entrance building of the museum was officially opened on 4 September. This is a long-held wish come true. The design of the entrance is spectacular: a transparent building, incorporating high-tech glass constructions. The official opening heralded a weekend filled with receptions for invitees and for the city; a two-day event full of highlights.
At exactly 4 o'clock, the Board of Directors opened the sunflower labyrinth, made from 125,000 Sunrich Orange sunflowers. The art installation was designed specially for the opening on Museumplein. Under the supervision of the New Cool Collective, performing the clear notes of Don McLean ‘s Starry Night, the invitees were led by dozens of 'mini Vincents’ to the new main entrance of the museum. Together with the directors of the other cultural institutions on Museumplein (Stedelijk Museum, Rijksmuseum, Koninklijk Concertgebouw and the Koninklijk Concertgebouworkest), director Axel Rüger and business director Adriaan Dönzelmann jointly raised their glasses, thereby ushering in a new era.
On a big screen, Simon Reinink of the Koninklijk Concertgebouw presented a trailer in which colleagues from Museumplein congratulated the Van Gogh Museum in a unique way. New sponsor Heineken was supporting the festivities, and handed out sunflowers throughout the city from the Heineken beer wagon.
The museum partly derives its raison d’etre from the unconditional support of many: local residents, employees, fellow institutions, private supporters, partner sponsors, foundations, funds, municipal council and government bodies. But above all, the museum is supported by visitors and fans from across the world. The opening of the new entrance building was a good reason to treat all these generous relations of the museum. Management and staff of the museum received huge numbers of guests in a festive manner before and after the official opening. During the private evening openings, invitees could see the new building and the museum's famous collection. The winners of the 125 questions campaign were also excited about their invitations, and were present in large numbers. The opening could also be followed worldwide via periscope online by the many fans of the museum.
More than 40,000 people from the Netherlands and abroad visited Museumplein during the weekend of 5 and 6 September in order to visit the sunflower labyrinth and the new entrance building. From the photo deck, they had a wonderful view of the museum and the labyrinth. All day long, visitors walked around the installation to look at and listen to the various artists expressing their tributes to Van Gogh in one of the three inspiration rooms hidden in the labyrinth. In one of the rooms, there was a photo exhibition about the renovation of the museum, while another showed a huge overview of the works of hundreds of artists and animators who have been inspired by Van Gogh. The labyrinth was developed in cooperation with Bureau Xsaga. Takii Seed donated the sunflowers.
To finish off this colourful weekend, people were invited to pick the sunflowers from the labyrinth. Two and a half hours later the entire labyrinth was ‘empty’. The whole city coloured yellow, and everywhere people were cycling and walking with huge bunches of flowers. They shared their experiences en masse via a range of social media channels.
Exactly 125 days before the opening of the new entrance building, the museum started an intensive crossmedia anniversary campaign. The museum called on Van Gogh fans from around the world to put Van Gogh-related questions to the experts of the museum. From day one, the questions streamed in from all four corners of the world. The answers to the wide range of questions were used in various advertising communications: via social media, on the website, in a specially developed section of the Volkskrant newspaper, on bus shelters and in the sunflower labyrinth. The campaign was launched with a beautiful animation.
'The entrance building with its characteristic semicircular façade, transparent hollow roof and spectacular glass load-bearing structure looks state-of-the-art, but it feels as if it has always been a feature of Museumplein in Amsterdam: completely familiar,’ said the Parool newspaper in September. 'The pavilion, designed to be a transparent contrast to the existing stone exhibition wing, can be compared to Yin and Yang. Looked at in this way, the museum was previously 'incomplete': a novel without a plot. But now, in this entrance building, everything comes together, and that is an amazing architectural achievement.’
Kisho Kurokawa Architect and Associates, the firm of the late Japanese architect Kisho Kurokawa, provided the sketch design for the new entrance. This firm was also responsible for the design of the exhibition wing, which was opened in 1999. Hans van Heeswijk Architects then fully developed the design. The new entrance was commissioned by the Central Government Real Estate Agency, the owner of the museum building.
The Van Gogh Museum largely financed the building project itself. The total amount required of €20 million was raised from the museum's own financial resources and with support from many parties, including BankGiro Loterij, the Vincent van Gogh Foundation, Van Lanschot Bankiers, Sompo Japan Nipponkoa Insurance, de Tokyo Shimbun, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, the City of Amsterdam, Yanmar Europe, the Triton Collection Foundation, the John en Marine Fentener van Vlissingen Fonds, the City of Amsterdam/Stadsdeel Zuid, Heineken, TAKII Seed, the Drs. C. van Zadelhoff Fund, Ernst A. Nijkerk, Dümmen Orange and various other companies, funds, foundations and private individuals
Besides the spectacular staircase and the transparent glass roof, the completely renewed museum shop with over 500 new products is a real eye-catcher. To create the new range, the museum cooperated with Dutch designers - who sought inspiration from Van Gogh - including Hester van Eeghen, Tord Boontje, Edward van Vliet and Droog Design. Exclusive products were also created in cooperation with international brands, including Jaeger LeCoultre, Gassan Diamonds, SMAAK and Pommery. All the products in the shop are based on works by Vincent van Gogh and fall into the categories of Souvenirs, Design and Exclusive. This new formula ensures that the museum shop appeals even more to visitors and extends their museum experience by offering all visitors something that suits them.
The new entrance building increases the size of the Van Gogh Museum by more than 800 square metres. The museum now offers a multifunctional reception, designed to optimally receive and serve its many visitors. The new reception hall contains two information desks, two multimedia desks and a much larger cloakroom. The expansion of the museum has increased the total maximum capacity from 1200 to 2000 per moment. This makes it possible to provide a professional response to the ever-increasing interest in the museum.
The former entrance of the museum now functions as a special entrance for groups with reservations. Since its opening, the group entrance was used by 50,000 visitors in 2015.